English football giant Manchester City has been found guilty of arranging "sham" contracts as part of financial breaches that have become the biggest scandal in Premier League history.
An independent panel has found City guilty of almost all of the unprecedented 115 charges against it, covering a nine-year period in which the Abu Dhabi-backed team changed the landscape of the richest and most popular soccer league in the world.
City's alleged financial wrongdoing was worth more than of 900 million British pounds ($1.703 billion) and Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said the ruling showed City "systematically broke Premier League rules for nearly a decade."
What punishment could Manchester City face?
City now faces severe sanctions that could include a huge points deduction or even expulsion from the league.
The league said sanctions would be decided in a separate hearing held by the independent commission.
City has always denied wrongdoing, saying in 2023 when the charges were laid that there was a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position".
In a statement, the club said it was "disappointed and surprised" by the ruling, plans to appeal and says it will be "relentless" in its fight to clear its name.
Any appeal by City would have to be made by Friday, local time, the league said.
The ruling comes after it emerged last week that the charges against City were expected to be upheld following an exhaustive process.
The Premier League initiated its case more than three years ago but allegations first arose in 2018 from leaked club emails and documents.
What did Manchester City allegedly do wrong?
City was accused of a raft of financial violations between 2009 and 2018, a period when the north-west club, long in the shadow of great rival Manchester United, was transforming itself into a record-breaking global superpower that has won multiple Premier League titles and the Champions League.
The violations included failing to provide accurate financial information and submitting inflated figures for sponsorship deals out of Abu Dhabi, hiding payments and breaching financial rules the Premier League and UEFA, European soccer's governing body, established to keep clubs financially stable by not spending beyond their means.
City also faced many other charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation between 2018 and 2023.
"An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period," the league said.
It also found the club guilty of "the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the league's investigation."
Regarding the sponsorship deals, the league said: "Manchester City arranged 'sham' contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on 'sham' agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs.
"The club … filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators."
The purpose of City's "schemes" was found to have been to "artificially inflate the club's revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than 900 million British pounds during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules," the league said.
The finding suggests City's rise to the top of the English game, fuelled by investments from Abu Dhabi that delivered its expensive, star-studded squads, was achieved at least in part by evading the league's financial regulations.
What could the fallout be?
The verdict is expected to trigger a slew of lawsuits from rival clubs calling for compensation for having been affected by City's actions.
There is also the question of whether City's top stars, like Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki, will stay at the club and what the future holds for owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Mr Al Nahyan, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, bought City in 2008 and has gone on to own a group of worldwide teams — under the City Football Group banner — including New York City FC and Melbourne City.
Over the weekend, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said there remained a "confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence".
The appeal could end up in the High Court in London if City feels the process in the case was unfair and/or impartial.
